May 1. Shakespeare buys 107 acres of farm land in Old
Stratford for £320.
Sept. 1. Shakespeare acquires one-quarter of an acre of
land and a cottage in Chapel Lane, Stratford.
Reference is made to Shakespeare and Richard Burbage in
The Returne from Parnassus (Part 2).

May 19. Shakespeare is mentioned in a royal patent which
renames the Lord Chamberlain's
Men as the King's Men.
During the winter season, Shakespeare performs in Ben
Jonson's Sejanus, the last record of him
acting.Henry
Chettle, in his poem "Englandes
Mourning Garment," exhorts Shakespeare to write honouring
the memory of Queen Elizabeth.

Sir Walter Raleigh is imprisoned.
Queen Elizabeth dies.Plague rages in London
(30,561 deaths); theatres remain closed until April 1604.
.James
I arrives in London.Henslowe ends his
Diary.
Monteverdi's Madrigals, Book 4, are published.